Lance: A Hitman Romance (Santa Espera #2) Read Online Free

the way of my work. Plus, his whole thing was that he wanted to get rid of the filth that made this city so bad in the first place. Do the kind of dirty work the cops and judges can’t legally do.
    Ah, this city. I’ve lived in Santa Espera all my life. I know this shithole inside and out. Apparently when this land was founded it was thought the surrounding area would provide good farming, and this place was named Santa Esperanza — Saint Hope. It wasn’t until a few years of bad crops went by that most people left, and the ones who stayed renamed it Santa Espera — basically, Saint Delayed.
    Anyway, work with Gil was good, but after a while, when the money really started rolling in and Gil became more relaxed, that’s when the coke came on scene. He must have a good dealer because Gil really likes coke. In fact, he likes it so much that he started killing off some of his guys. Just so he wouldn’t have to pay them anymore. Just so he could afford more coke.
    You can see now why I kept the shoulder holster on.
    I walk into the restaurant and the noise of myriad conversations hits me like a wall. It’s busy, even for a Wednesday. Couples are here on dates, groups of businessmen all grabbing dinner. I even see some family with a little kid. The sight of him eating spaghetti makes me smile, and I take a moment to glance over the two women at the table. The one with the blonde hair is cute.
    Behind the bar, the bartender gives me a nod and I give him the same. Sandy, one of the servers, passes me by carrying a tray of entrees. I see her cheeks flush when she sees me and I smile, my cock stirring at the memory of our night together, two weeks past. For someone so demure on the outside, she was like a fucking banshee in the sack. She didn’t like it when I didn’t stay the night, and she’s been trying to get back with me ever since. But she should know I never sleep with the same woman twice. You can never let them get too attached.
    I push through the swinging double doors to the back and take a right down the hallway. Turning again, I reach the room at the back, stopping in front of the heavy metal door. I lift my fist and hammer three times. A metal latch slides back from the inside and the door opens a crack, the barrel of a gun coming out to greet me. I push the door open, walking past the gun and the guy holding it and into the room.
    “Lance!” says Gil from behind his desk at the side wall. “So good to see you so soon!”
    For a room large enough to hold two hundred people, it’s pretty empty in here. A couple of guys are playing a game of pool off in the corner. Willy’s standing against the far wall, leaning against a shelf and cleaning his gun. He nods his head in greeting and I do the same. Off to the side is Jackson, busy lifting what look like hundred pound weights. Of everybody in this business, Willy’s the only one I really get along with. But considering we grew up together in this shitty town of Santa Espera, that doesn’t really seem out of place.
    “Come here, come here!” Gil motions with his hand, indicating the chairs in front of his desk.
    On the wall opposite his desk is the door that leads to the kitchen, and the way I would have come in had I gone through the back. Gil insisted on having a door connected to the kitchen so he could get his food directly, without having to go around. There’s a glass porthole in the door which is part of the building code, according to the inspector. All this security to make sure the place is safe and Gil has a window looking right in at his desk. Figure that one out.
    But I didn’t come here to judge. I approach his desk and Gil motions for me to sit down. I see half a dozen lines of coke set up on the desktop and a glance shows me wiped-at traces of the stuff circling his left nostril. His pupils tell me he’s been at it for the past hour or so. He’s going to offer me some, and I’m going to decline, and he’ll get upset. But he won’t get